Utah: GT race report

Gigliotti Wins Inaugural SPEED GT In Utah, Takes Point Lead
TOOELE, Utah (July 15, 2006) -- Lou Gigliotti, of Dallas, held off a
charging Ricardo Imery to capture his second win of 2006 and take the
SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT ...

Gigliotti Wins Inaugural SPEED GT In Utah, Takes Point Lead

TOOELE, Utah (July 15, 2006) -- Lou Gigliotti, of Dallas, held off a
charging Ricardo Imery to capture his second win of 2006 and take the
SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship point lead in the
inaugural run at Miller Motorsports Park, part of the Larry H. Miller
Dealers Utah Grand Prix weekend. Andy Pilgrim, of Boca Raton, Fla., was
third.

Starting from the pole position in his No. 28 LG Pro Long Tube Headers
Chevrolet Corvette C6, Gigliotti took the lead at the start and never
relinquished it, winning the 14-lap, 62.804-mile contest by 0.523
second, averaging 88.469 mph.

Aschenbach's day would get off to a poor start, though, as the rookie
was issued a stop-and-go penalty for advancing prior to the start. When
Aschenbach pitted to serve his penalty, Leighton Reese, who started
fourth in his No. 6 Banner Engineering Chevrolet Corvette C6, advanced
to third, and then to second when Imery had a quick off-and-on at turn
21 on the second lap.

"Ricardo [Imery] went off the track and gave me a head start," Gigliotti
said of his start. "You saw how close it was at the end. If he had been
in second the whole race, we could not have held him off. He was just
too strong."

From there, Reese put the chase on Gigliotti. The two traded fast race
laps as they navigated the 4.486-mile road course for the next eight
laps. On lap 10, Reese got alongside Gigliotti for the lead as they
drag-raced into turn one. Gigliotti held the point and then Reese's day
took a heartbreaking turn as he pulled off course at turn six with a
broken driveshaft.

"It was Leighton and I [battling for the lead], but foolish me, I
thought a fellow Corvette driver would just want to run together,"
Gigliotti said of his battle with Reese. "But, he didn't. He kept trying
to pass me. So, I had to burn my car down to stay ahead of him. He
obviously burned his car down more. I think if we both would have taken
it easy, we both could have had something at the end. But, I did not
have any car at the end."

From there, it appeared to be clear sailing for Gigliotti, who had built
nearly eight seconds between his Corvette and Imery's Porsche. However,
after battling with both Reese and the mid-90 temperatures, Gigliotti's
car began to fade, while Imery's car got faster. With Pilgrim's No. 1
XM/Mobil 1/Motorola/On Star Cadillac CTS-V in tow, Imery cut the lead
to just one second as the white flag flew. Try as the Infineon Raceway
winner would though, Imery could not find a way past the Corvette on the
final tour, allowing Gigliotti to score his 22nd win, becoming the first
repeat winner of 2006.

"Richardo probably burned his car up trying to get to me," Gigliotti
said of his late battle with Imery. "He had a couple of shots at me and
I just held him up in some places where he was good and then scooted out
of there in places where I was good. I was able to beat him at the end
of the straightaway. Luckily, I was able to hold him off."

Imery, of Caracas, Venezuela, also had a good day in the points, and his
second place finish gave him the Piloti Rookie of the Race award.

"I had a good shot at him [Gigliotti] at the end," Imery said of his
last lap battle for the lead. "I saved my tires for the last three or
four laps and then I just went at it. I think if we would have had one
more lap, I could have had him. But, unfortunately at the start, I went
to the outside I picked up some stuff on the tires and unfortunately I
went off on the second to the last turn and gave Leighton [Reese] second
place. Then Leighton had a mechanical problem, that's how racing goes,
he gave it back to me.

"Then I set my sights on Lou. But, at the end he had a little more
power than the 911 Porsche on the straightaway. In all, it was a great
finish."

Pilgrim's race followed his signature calm and steady pace, and the
defending series Champion's third place finish moved him up to second in
the Drivers' Championship.

"I got a great start," Pilgrim said. "I got past Leighton and Lawson
[Aschenbach] had a problem and had to go into the pits, which was good.
But, it was really about taking care of the tires early on and then
maybe having something for who was ever in front of me at the end.
Richardo and Lou were coming back to me, but we did not have enough
time. There were certain places where they were quite a bit quicker than
I was. But, I didn't really have anything to go after them with."

Canadian Ron Fellows drove the team car to Pilgrim's Cadillac, again
sporting the Project Gotham 3 graphics on the No. 16 car, to finish
fourth after starting sixth. His pass on Michael McCann for fifth earned
the B&M Oil Cooler's Coolest Move of the Race.

McCann, of North Canton, Ohio, was the highest finishing Dodge, coming
home fifth in the No. 82 McCann Plastics/H&N Filters Dodge Viper.

Bob Woodhouse was sixth in his Viper, followed by the Porsche of James
Sofronas, Rob Foster's Viper, a resurgent Aschenbach in his Porsche and
Brett Pearson.

Pearson earned the Sunoco Hard Charger award in his No. 77 Ventex
Corp/Pearson Motorsport Dodge Viper for advancing from 18th on the grid
to finish 10th.

With the win, three-time series Champion Gigliotti moved into the point
lead for the first time this season, with 155. Pilgrim moved from third
to second, with 143, followed by Aschenbach, who is the top rookie, with
141, Imery (131) and McCann (124).

Porsche extended its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship Presented
by RACER Magazine from one point to three, and now leads Cadillac 38 to
35, followed by Dodge, with 31 and Chevrolet, with 29.

Today's race will be broadcast Saturday, July 22 at 4 p.m. (EDT) on
SPEED Channel.

The next race for the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT
Championship will be in one month's time, Aug. 18-20 at Road America for
Round Seven of the 10-race Championship.